80. “I’m Always Behind”: What So Many Nurses Are Feeling

During Nurses Week, there’s often a mix of emotions.

Sometimes it feels validating and appreciated. Other times, it can feel like pizza parties and tote bags are being used to cover up very real struggles nurses face every day.

In this episode of The Nurses' Breakroom with Jenny Lytle, RN, Jenny talks about one of the most common things she’s hearing from nurses right now:

“I’m always behind and trying to catch up.”

If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone.

Jenny shares:

•  Why so many nurses feel like they can never catch up 
•  How burnout happens slowly over time 
•  Why “it’ll get better soon” often doesn’t work 
•  What reclaiming your evenings could actually look like 
•  How burnout can feel even heavier when you truly love hospice work 
•  Why intentional, personalized stress relief matters 

Jenny also opens up about her own hospice burnout journey and how slowly the work she once loved began to feel overwhelming.

If you’ve been charting late, struggling to disconnect from work, feeling exhausted, or wondering why nursing feels so much harder than it used to — this episode is for you.

Reflection Question

If you finished work on time, had your charting done, and could fully enjoy your evening… what would that change for you?

Mentioned in This Episode

•  The Hospice Nurses Wellbeing Project 
•  Possible upcoming workshop: Reclaiming Your Evenings & Loving Your Work Again

Connect with Jenny

DM the word ENJOY to Instagram for more information about upcoming support and resources.

Reminder

Self-care isn’t selfish. It’s essential if we want to continue caring for others and living our best lives.

If you're feeling overwhelmed, burned out, or like there’s never enough time, I’ve got something just for you! Head to https://selfcareisntselfish.com to grab your FREE copy of my book, Self-Care Isn’t Selfish: The Compassionate Nurse’s Step-by-Step Guide to Personalized Stress Relief. It’s packed with simple, effective strategies to help you prioritize your needs—without guilt—so you can feel energized, focused, and ready to take on the day. Go to https://selfcareisntselfish.com 

Feeling stressed? Grab my quick and easy Busy Nurses' Guide to Less Stress for practical stress relief that truly fits into your life!  https://www.jennylytle.com/guide

Looking for connection with people who get the stress and self-care struggles of nurses and caregivers? Check out https://thenursesbreakroom.com 

Connect on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennylytlern/

More ways to connect here: https://linktr.ee/jennylytle

Transcript

Jenny Lytle, RN 0:00

Hello, and welcome back to another episode of the Nurses Break Room with Jenny Lytle RN. We are in the middle of Nurses Week. And so I'm curious as to what that looks like for you. Is it a week full of disappointment and gifts you don't want or no real acknowledgement? Or is it something where you're able to really stop and think, gosh, this is this is great. This is why I became a nurse and focus on those types of things. For some of it,

Nurses Week And Mixed Feelings

Jenny Lytle, RN 0:30

it's kind of a mix of both. It's nice to have a week to celebrate nurses and the things that we do and that we help with. But at the same time, a lot of the big issues aren't ones that really get addressed. And so I just feel like this is such a great time to talk a little bit about what things really feel like for us a lot of the times. And I recently had a nurse that I was talking with say, I'm always behind and trying to catch up. And so then you start to feel like you can't handle it and wonder why you can't keep up. You start to doubt yourself. And most of us want to get done with work on time. You actually want to have a few minutes for yourself during the day, but that's something that can start to really feel out of reach.

Always Behind And Self Doubt

Jenny Lytle, RN 1:31

But there are things that you can do to help you get there. And it doesn't have to take a lot of time or a lot of effort, but it does have to be intentional. It's not something that's just going to happen, most likely. Because if you tell yourself that, like I've told myself that for years and different stretches of time, where you think, okay, this is just a really busy season right now, but soon it'll get better. But chances are it doesn't. It doesn't without you really putting forth some kind of effort and a plan in place. And I'm not saying that you're not trying to make things different. It's just maybe you're concentrating on some of the wrong things. And so I'd love for you to think about, or maybe even journal about what you do if you were able to be done with work at the end of the day. I mean, if you could clock out or be done with your last patient and have your documentation done and not be on call that evening and just think of like, what would that look like? What would that feel like? And how would that impact the way you show up in the rest of your life? So

Visualize A Shift That Ends

Jenny Lytle, RN 2:44

I'm thinking about putting together a workshop focused on reclaiming your evenings and loving your work again. Because most of us that are in hospice or even other areas of nursing, most of us do it. Yes, we do it for a paycheck, but we do it too because we feel like it's something that we're called to do. So in my conversations, while I've been talking with nurses for the Hospice Nurses Wellbeing Project,

Hospice Calling And Burnout Drift

Jenny Lytle, RN 3:13

most of us are in hospice because of some sort of personal experience with hospice, some reason why we really feel called to this particular work. And that's something that can make it even more challenging because when we feel like we're doing something that we're meant to be doing and then feel like we're failing at it as well, whoo, that's tough. It's tough. And I've been there, I get that. And that's why I'm so passionate about helping you be able to get through your days, yes, but to live the life that you really want to live and to love the work that you're doing again. Because I remember my first hospice job, it was the only job that I've ever truly loved. Like I woke up of a morning excited to go to work. And then slowly that began to change. And it happens so slowly, so insidiously, that you don't recognize it until sometimes it feels too late. And I went through my own burnout journey, and that's when I realized like something's gotta give, you know, there's gotta be a better way. So if you're ready to have time for what matters most to you and to enjoy your work again, DM Enjoy to me on Instagram. Uh, it's Jenny Lytle R N, and I will share more info with you. Until next time, remember self care isn't selfish. It's the only way that we can continue to care for others and live our best lives. Have a great week.